The gore the merrier with 12 spooky stories

With Christmas comes jingle bells, mistletoe and cheer, but for a former mosher like myself, nothing beats a little spook and gore when it comes to the festive season.

As if by black magic, I encountered The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas by Syd Moore and it was a delight from start to finish.

A compilation of short stories, there are, you guessed it, 12 spooky tales that will haunt your festive season. Well, I say haunt, some are more jarring than others but each has its own cryptic style and message that I just loved.

I’ve only got around 600 words to play with in this column so can’t review every single tale, but I will give you a brief overview of my favourites.

Of the 12 tales in these hauntingly good 200 pages was Snowy, the story of Norah who lives alone in Adder’s Fork.

Since the death of her husband David, Norah has been visited regularly by cats who seem to share similar personalities to loved ones she’s lost in the past.

One of the many feline visitors is Snowy, who has a striking personality likeness to Norah’s late husband.

There’s a follow-up on Snowy further along in the book that is utterly hysterical which involves two social workers and the cats and it had me in stitches. I don’t want to spoil the ending for you, but Syd’s dark comedic genius deserves mighty applause with this one.

Another favourite among these 12 tales is The House on Savage Lane. The story follows a young woman named Cordelia who, perfect in every way, unfortunately has her innocence stolen by a certain Thomas Barren-Barton. As a consequence of this night, Cordelia is soon pregnant and forced to marry Thomas. Nine months later, Cordelia gives birth to twins; an angelic blond son and another who is covered in dark hair and is, by all means, ugly on the eyes.

The years pass and dreadful activities begin to unfold. At first, maids and nannies are scared away from their duties, then animals begin to make their way into the house mutilated and in terrible states.

However, as time passes, many of the animals seem to have been cared for, or even partially patched up. Cordelia confronts her two boys, realising that one is the culprit and one is the curer who cannot face to see the animals in pain, but neither will admit their part.

The torture then goes from animals to humans, and a dreadful discovery is made that’ll surprise and scare you. I ate it up like jam on toast. If you’re anything like me, you’ll devour this ghastly tale with gusto.

A final of my favourites is Christmas Eve at the Witch Museum.

The story follows Rosie, the manager of a Witch Museum in Adder’s Fork who has thrown a party for the locals at the museum.

She decorates the place festively, but doesn’t realise that her decorations are in a ceremonial circle, which may draw demons and spirits to their little shindig, which it does, of sorts.

Then follows a hilarious capturing of said sort-of demon involving Rosie, some of the townsfolk and her colleague Sam.

The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas is a lyrical marvel.

The stories are short and sweet and hit you right in the funnies or the spookies, whichever way the tales take you.

For those who like a side of spook with their festive cheer, you’ll adore this little collection of stories.